“We must do better”- Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk sends message to the Netherlands teammate after win vs Senegal

Liverpool and Netherlands star Virgil Van Dijk not happy with his side’s performance against Senegal

Speaking in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS after the game as quoted by Liverpool Echo, Liverpool’s Netherland star Virgil van Dijk has urged his side to improve despite the 2-0 win against Senegal in their opening World Cup encounter.

The Netherlands emerged 2-0 winners against Senegal thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo and Davy Klassen but it was nowhere close to a clinical performance from Oranje and Louis Van Gaal’s team were rather fortuitous.

It required a late flurry of goals from the Dutch to see them through to a win and it was indeed an important one to set the tone for how the rest of the tournament progresses for Van Gaal’s side.

Senegal were brave in their display and put up a real show in the game against the Netherlands. The absence of Mane certainly did not deter the African team as they showed everyone what they are capable of.

The Netherlands were often caught out on the counter-attack and had quite a few nervy moments at the back. Matthijs de Ligt really struggled to keep Ismail Sarr in check and the Dutch team had a few nervy moments playing out of the back as well.

Speaking about the game, here is what Virgil van Dijk said about the game against Senegal and what he wants to see improved in the future.

“We won but we also know that we can and must do better. Going forward we sometimes tried to force things, and we too often left ourselves exposed to Senegal’s counter-attacks”

Van Dijk had a pretty good game on a personal note but he would know that even his performance could have been better as he had a few nervous moments at the back at times.

The return of Memphis Depay should really help the Netherlands in games from now on. The Barcelona star is arguably the most important player for the Dutch and he will be able to start games from here on.

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The Netherlands may not have been at their best, but they got the job done. Ultimately, in World Cups, that is all that matters.